AST/1/2025/PRES - PARLIAMENTARY ASSISTANCE - LEGISLATIVE AND PARLIAMENTARY FILE MANAGERS (AST 3)

NOTICE OF PARLIAMENT INTERNAL COMPETITION

AST/1/2025/PRES – PARLIAMENTARY ASSISTANCE - LEGISLATIVE FILE MANAGERS AND PARLIAMENTARY FILE MANAGERS (AST 3)

Before applying, you must read carefully the ‘Guide for candidates in internal competitions organised by the European Parliament’ (hereinafter, ‘the Guide’) attached to this notice of competition.

The Guide is an integral part of the notice of competition and will help you to understand the rules governing internal competitions and the application procedure.

Deadline for applications: 12.00 (noon) Brussels/Luxembourg time on 6 March 2025.

1..... GENERAL REMARKS. 2

2..... WHAT DUTIES CAN I EXPECT TO PERFORM?. 2

2.1.       Typical duties. 3

2.2.       Required skills and competencies. 4

3..... AM I ELIGIBLE?. 5

3.1.       General eligibility criteria.. 5

3.1.1.        Compliance with Article 28 of the Staff Regulations. 5

3.1.2.        Status and seniority. 5

3.2.       Specific eligibility criteria.. 6

3.2.1.        Education. 6

3.2.2.        Professional experience. 6

3.2.3.        Knowledge of languages. 6

4..... HOW WILL THE COMPETITION BE ORGANISED?. 7

4.1.       Eligibility criteria check.. 7

4.2.       Tests. 8

4.2.1.        Written test 8

4.2.2.        Oral test 8

5..... LIST OF SUITABLE CANDIDATES. 9

6..... HOW TO APPLY. 10

This internal competition is being organised for the purpose of establishing a list of suitable candidates in the field of parliamentary assistance, for the positions of legislative and parliamentary file managers in the European Parliament. The selection board will guarantee equal opportunities for all candidates, irrespective of the department they work for, their previous or current professional experience, function group and grade.

1.     GENERAL REMARKS

The Appointing Authority has decided, on the basis of Article 29(1)(d) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (hereinafter ‘the Staff Regulations’), to organise an internal competition primarily for the Directorate-General for the Presidency (hereinafter DG PRES).

This notice of competition and the Guide for candidates form the legally binding framework for this competition.

The internal competition seeks to establish a list of 20 suitable candidates.

The European Parliament is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications without discrimination on any ground such as gender, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or family situation.

2.     WHAT DUTIES CAN I EXPECT TO PERFORM?

DG PRES plays a crucial role at every stage of the legislative procedure. It provides expertise and facilitates the work of the President, the plenary, Parliament’s governing bodies and its Members in complex and varied fields. Its tasks include organising and ensuring the smooth operation of all activities related to the plenary, running the Conference of Presidents secretariat, and drafting and finalising legislative texts by the Directorate for Legislative Acts (DLA).

Within DG PRES, the Directorate for the Plenary is responsible for preparing, organising, running and following up on plenary sessions, preparing and producing the agenda, in coordination with the Conference of Presidents secretariat, organising the chairing of sittings and transmitting the texts adopted. It also organises voting in plenary, which includes preparing all voting lists, managing voting cards and monitoring legislative and non-legislative acts that are likely to be voted on in plenary.

The Directorate for the Plenary produces and makes available the minutes, verbatim reports, videos on demand (VOD), Members’ attendance registers (Rule 162) and results of votes in plenary. It supervises and manages the reception and referral of official documents, written questions, oral questions and major interpellations i.a. The Directorate is also in charge of the Members’ administration, the database/files of Members’ mandates, parliamentary immunities and the Code of Conduct and it provides a secretariat for the Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members.

A significant number of posts within the Directorate for the Plenary are based in Luxembourg.

Within DG PRES, the Directorate for Legislative Acts (DLA) is responsible for monitoring each legislative procedure in the European Parliament, from the point when the Commission proposal is first submitted to the signing of the final legal act. DLA staff members attend committee meetings, provide support during negotiations and finalise legislative texts in all EU official languages.

The DLA also carries out legal-linguistic checks on all legislative texts put to the vote in committee and in plenary, ensures that they are of the requisite technical quality, makes sure that amendments, opinions and reports are drafted in accordance with the applicable rules, and revises the original language version of amendments, opinions and reports when they are tabled. When the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reach agreement on a legislative text, the DLA ensures the legal-linguistic quality of all language versions of the final legislative act, and confirms to the Presidency that the text can be signed.

The DLA also provides Members with drafting assistance and procedural advice, working closely with committee rapporteurs and secretariats and assists the political groups and other Members on request.

All posts within the DLA units are based in Brussels.

2.1.         Typical duties

As a legislative and/or parliamentary file manager, you will be asked to carry out one or more of the following activities:

• contributing to the organisation and running of plenary sessions and Conference of Presidents meetings, including preparing and producing the agendas;
• contributing to the preparation of the plenary lists of speakers, the plenary lists for one-minute speeches and explanations of vote; providing assistance in the chamber during the debates;
• assisting with the reception and registration of documents tabled for the plenary as well as the preparations for plenary votes;
• assisting in drafting the plenary session minutes as well as in the production of the final version for publication in all EU languages; preparing the annexes with the results of plenary and roll call votes; encoding the voting results directly in plenary;
• assisting in preparing and publishing the verbatim reports of plenary sittings (CRE), in particular by controlling and inserting metadata, assembling and adapting texts for publication of the final version; processing explanations of votes and written statements;
• contributing to the management of parliamentary questions (registration, translation requests, forwarding to the institutional addressees of the questions, management and verification of answers, etc.);
• preparing letters for the transmission of adopted texts to the other institutions, national governments and parliaments, and other addressees;
• assisting in the reception, registration  and analysis of documents transmitted to Parliament by other institutions, Members and citizens (petitions), and their referral  to the responsible parliamentary committees or services;
• assisting with work related to Members’ mandates: verifications of credentials, incompatibilities and resignations. Preparing plenary announcements;
• assisting lawyer-linguists, in a paralegal capacity, with the legal-linguistic finalisation of draft EU legislative acts by incorporating changes and applying legislative drafting rules, preparing documents in the language of the team concerned, checking spelling and grammar, carrying out terminological research, and pre- and post-processing documents in accordance with relevant standards so as to ensure that they are of the requisite quality as regards formal and technical aspects and formatting;
• preparing legislative texts that are to be put to the vote in the European Parliament; verifying a range of aspects relating to quality, form and content and making the necessary changes, following plenary votes and subsequently ensuring that the texts adopted by the European Parliament accurately reflect the outcome of plenary votes, and making them publication-ready within strict deadlines;

2.2.         Required skills and competencies

These duties call for very good planning, organisational and prioritising skills. Candidates must show initiative, flexibility and foresight, as well as an unfailing sense of tact and discretion. They must demonstrate IT literacy and be capable of working in intense conditions, sometimes to very short deadlines (especially during part-session weeks), both on their own and as part of a team, and of forming networks in a multicultural working environment. They must have very good oral and written communication skills, a critical mind and an eye for detail. The tasks also call for good knowledge of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure. Lastly, candidates will be required to upskill throughout their career and to share their knowledge and experience gained ‘on the job’ with newcomers.

Depending on the unit to which the assistant is posted, there will be regular missions to Brussels and/or Strasbourg, in particular during part- sessions.

3.     AM I ELIGIBLE?

On the closing date for applications you must meet all the general and specific eligibility criteria listed below.

3.1.         General eligibility criteria

3.1.1.  Compliance with Article 28 of the Staff Regulations

In accordance with Article 28 of the Staff Regulations, you must:

• be a national of one of the European Union’s Member States*;
• enjoy full rights as a citizen;
• have fulfilled any obligations imposed on you by the laws on military service;
• be able to produce the appropriate character references as to your suitability for the performance of the duties involved.

*Given the Bureau’s decision of 2 May 2018, and on the basis of Article 1(1)(i) of Annex III to the Staff Regulations, the Appointing Authority has decided to open this internal competition also to European Parliament officials and temporary agents who are not nationals of one of the Member States of the European Union, but are nationals of the United Kingdom.

NB: In this context, nationals of the United Kingdom, and only for the purpose of completing the application form for this competition, should tick the checkbox in Apply4EP stating that they are a ‘national of one of the Member States’.

3.1.2.  Status and seniority

In accordance with Article 2 of the internal rules on the recruitment of officials and other servants (General Implementing Provisions of 17 October 2014), this internal competition is open only to staff of the European Parliament who also meet the following general eligibility criteria:

• Status: you serve as an official in one of the administrative statuses: (a) ‘active employment’, (b) ‘secondment’, (e) ‘leave for military service’, or (f) ‘parental leave or family leave’ of Article 35 of the Staff Regulations; or as a member of the temporary staff (Title II of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants (CEOS)); and
• Seniority: you have been in the service of the European Parliament for at least three years as an official in one or more of the administrative statuses referred to above and/or as a member of the temporary staff and/or as a member of the contract staff (respectively defined in Title II 'temporary staff' and Title IV 'contract staff' of the CEOS);

3.2.         Specific eligibility criteria

3.2.1.  Education

You must have completed:

• a level of post-secondary education attested by a diploma or;
• a level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to higher education, followed by professional experience of at least three years related to the tasks described in Section 2 of this notice. This professional experience will not be taken into account when evaluating the professional experience stipulated in Section 3.2.2 of this notice.

3.2.2.  Professional experience

After obtaining the educational qualifications giving access to the competition (see Section 3.2.1 above), you must have acquired at least 36 months’ professional experience related to one or more of the activities listed in Section 2.1 of this notice.

3.2.3.  Knowledge of languages

You must have a thorough knowledge (level C1 minimum) of one of the European Union’s official languages (language 1): Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish or Swedish

and

a satisfactory knowledge (level B2 minimum) of English or French (language 2), including a very good knowledge of grammar, syntax and the formal register of that language. Language 2 must be different from language 1. If language 1 is English or French, a satisfactory knowledge (level B2 minimum) of the other language is required.

Please note that the minimum levels required above apply to each area of language skills (speaking, writing, reading and listening). These skills correspond to those specified in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, where C2 represents the highest level and A1 the lowest.

The language registered as your main language in the HRM Portal (Streamline) will be regarded as your language 1. That language cannot be changed.

You are requested to:

1.      check your main language in the HRM Portal (Streamline);
2.      indicate in the application file your main language as language 1;
3.      select either English or French as your language 2 - which is the language in which you will sit all the tests (written and oral).

4.     HOW WILL THE COMPETITION BE ORGANISED?

The Appointing Authority will draw up a list of those candidates who submitted their application file in accordance with the arrangements and by the deadline stipulated in Section 6 ‘How to apply’ of the notice. This list will be sent to the Chair of the selection board.

The competition is based on tests.

It consists of three stages:

• Check of general and specific eligibility criteria;
• Written test;
• Oral test.

4.1.         Eligibility criteria check

The selection board will check the general and specific eligibility of all candidates on the Appointing Authority’s list and will draw up a list of candidates who comply with the general eligibility criteria outlined in Section 3.1 and the specific eligibility criteria in Section 3.2 of this notice. Candidates on this list will be admitted to the competition.

The selection board will base its decisions solely on the information given on the application form and substantiated by the accompanying supporting documents submitted with the application (see the Guide for further details.)

Upon completion of the eligibility check, candidates will be notified whether or not they have been admitted to the competition.

4.2.         Tests

All candidates admitted to the competition will be invited to the written test.

4.2.1.  Written test

The written test, in language 2, will be based on a set of documents of a maximum of 20 pages related to the duties described in Section 2, and will assess candidates’ ability to understand a problem and put forward a solution. Candidates will have a choice of topics of an administrative, legislative or technical nature, in line with the level of knowledge required to perform the duties described in Section 2 of this notice.

• Maximum time allowed: 3 hours
• Marking: 0 to 50 points
• Pass mark: 25 points

This test will be held online.

The 40 candidates who obtain the highest number of points in the written test will be invited to the oral test, provided they have achieved the pass mark. The selection board will invite to the oral test any candidates who are tied for the final qualifying place.

You will receive instructions concerning the written test in good time beforehand.

4.2.2.  Oral test

The oral test will consist of two parts, each designed to assess different aspects of candidates’ knowledge and competencies. Both parts will be conducted in front of the selection board in language 2, and will be organised as follows:

part a) Interview with the selection board to assess candidates’ suitability for the duties described in Section 2 of this notice.

• Duration: 40 to 50 minutes
• Marking: 0 to 30 points
• Pass mark: 15 points

part b) Situational test based on a scenario designed to assess candidates’ competencies as outlined in Section 2.2, to perform the duties described in Section 2.1 of this notice. The selection board will present to the candidate a realistic work-related scenario that requires immediate action or resolution. The candidate will engage directly with a selection board member in this scenario.

• Duration: 20 to 25 minutes
• Marking: 0 to 20 points
• Pass mark: 10 points

Part a) will be immediately followed by part b).

The entire oral test may be held in person or online.

You will receive instructions concerning the written and oral tests in good time. These tests will be organised at a specific time on a specific date. If you do not reply to an invitation, cannot be contacted by email or fail to show up for a test, you may be disqualified. You must follow the instructions to the letter. Any failure to follow the instructions or any action not consistent with them may lead to your immediate disqualification.

5.     LIST OF SUITABLE CANDIDATES

On the basis of the tests results, the selection board will draw up a list of suitable candidates as laid down in Section 1.The list will include the eligible candidates with the highest overall scores in the written and oral tests, provided they have passed each of the tests.

The list will include any candidates tied for the final qualifying place. The candidates will be listed in alphabetical order.

The candidates will be informed individually of their results, and the list of suitable candidates will be published on the European Parliament intranet.

The list of suitable candidates will remain valid until 31 December 2028. The Appointing Authority may decide to extend its validity beyond that date. If extended, the candidates on the list will be informed at the relevant time.

Candidates who are offered a job, will be required to produce the originals of all requisite documents, including diplomas and employment certificates, for verification.

Inclusion on a list of suitable candidates does not constitute either a right to, or a guarantee of, recruitment.

6.     HOW TO APPLY

You must apply on the Apply4EP platform, by:

12.00 (noon) Brussels/Luxembourg time on 6 March 2025.

You must read carefully the Guide before completing the application form and you must provide the relevant supporting documents.

An acknowledgement of receipt will be sent to you automatically after you have submitted your application form.

All communication about this competition must be through your Apply4EP account. Please DO NOT CALL to ask about this competition.

It is your responsibility to check regularly for correspondence concerning the competition, which will be sent to the email address you indicated in your Apply4EP account.